A fellow club member has an old brass 3 truck Overland Shay which has been custom painted, so it is quite a nice looking item. we put it on the tracks and it is dead!!!! I checked the contacts and they seem to be ok, but I cannot go any farther without opening the beast, the how to of which was not obvious on first inspection (and I don't really feel up to the job either). does anyone know someone who would be willing to take on the task of getting this loco running? He wants it for himself and doesn't intend to sell it. Michael Hewitt Hampstead, NC
I have one of these on the work bench right now so I have a little experience in working on them. If you would like to contact me direct about getting it apart or me looking at it please do so at EMACGIS@aol.com
emacgis... please post your experiences here or send me an email. i own one of these shays as well and might need your tips one day.
What I'm about to say here is just my opinion. This Shay was never really meant to do much running as released by the manufacture. The round steel wheel drive shafts are run through a square hole in the the brass truck side frames. The side frames could have been cast out of bronze to give a decent bearing surface. If they felt they had to go with the brass they could have just as easily cast the hole round. The main thing that is usually a wrong with these locos not running is the copper pick up on the center truck. Most folks test run these locos when received and then put them back in their boxes. From storage the copper corrodes and the loco won't run. This pickup can be easily cleaned with some very thin and fine sand paper. Just get it between the pickup and the wheel and move it gently between them a few times. The second problem is that the wire going to the pickup will come loose very easily. Only two wheels pick up from the one rail so this is usually were the problem is. The front truck could have easily had a pick up put on it from the factory but they chose not to do this. This goes back to the first statement that they really didn't intend it to run. It's like an 0-4-0 trying to get through a turnout. Hope this helps. emacgis
